My kids invented a game called avalanche with all the walnuts that fall around the yurt! I was particularly proud of them for making a ruleset that includesls the littles! Now fall will always be avalanche season for us. 😁 These kids have my heart...

Anyone else going to be at Nostrville this year in Nashville?

I know there are many health-conscious people on Nostr, so I wanted to share something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I just watched Chris Williamson's YouTube video about his health struggle over the last year. He had significant mold in his house and had no idea. Most people don't know that with enough mold exposure, it can start to grow in your body. This is brutal on the immune system and nervous system. As both a builder and someone with extensive interaction with a large property management company, I would honestly bet that 50% of rentals have significant mold somewhere in the house. Almost nobody remediates mold properly because it is extremely hard and expensive. Big developers are especially bad. This is also a huge reason for my choosing to live in a yurt. Besides mold, most building materials are made with a significant amount of glue and high-VOC products that offgas for years. Modern houses can be really toxic. Not all of them are, but I think this is one of the most unaddressed issues in housing, and a huge reason to consider vernacular traditional housing options. Pro tip: if you think you might be suffering from mold-related health problems, many don't know that you can hire an environmental scientist to come and lab test the spore counts in your house. Many states will also allow you to pause rent if a remediation problem needs to be addressed. I do think this is also partially a fiat problem. People with large rental portfolios view them as cash flow assets, rather than the more important reality that they are places where people live. I think this mentality deprioritizes proper home maintenance.

Fun homestead saga update! I sent my wife into town to do some pampering and all the kids were out adventuring. I got some work done and decided I'd better go check on the kids after waiting a little longer than I probably should have. My girls [10,6,3] were all at the neighbors house baking peanut butter cookies with the neighbor girl [13]. The boys were on the trampoline with the neighbor boy. It's really got me thinking about this idea of deep community. Getting to know your neighbors is great but choosing to live with like-minded people has been a real breakthrough for my family. It's pretty remarkable to think that not too many generations ago, it wouldn't be uncommon for a child who lost a parent, God forbid, to have 3 to 5 other father or mother figures between aunts, uncles, older siblings, etc. I hate that fiat culture has normalized families being so small and geographically far apart. Being in nature has been so freeing for me but living nearby to people I love has been just as powerful! Being deeply embedded in community is so good for the soul.

Inside... but still outside.

I don't just custody my Bitcoin. I custody most my food and water too.

Son (4) : What is this wood for, Dad? Me: A bathhouse. Son (4) : Oh! Cool. I'll help you build it, Dad. It will be like old time. Daughter (6) : That's not what "old times" is. "Old times" if when you are a teenager but you did something a lot of day ago. Son (4) : No it's not. Daughter : Yes it is. Son : *Thinking* Ok. Me: *Big smile*

Gm nostr! Stay humble and stack sats today!

It's a lovely rainy day in TN! Im working from home today and I'm just basking in my family. Ambient piano music on, playing in the rain, coloring, reading. Feeling very grateful but also nervous. I'm beginning a pivot away from construction starting today. I love building but I'm come to accept it's kinda a single man's game and old man's game because of the long hours and travel. I'm still going to continue some small projects (and obviously I'm building almost every day at our property) but I'm going to be actively seeking some remote work so I can stay on the homestead. Prayers needed but trusting that a short term pay cut is a worthwhile sacrifice to reset my career.

Money printing is an attempt to fork reality. If the government is the highest power in your belief system, it is a convincing illusion.

Good morning, nostr! Woke up to my kids already adventuring. The world is a magical place filled with hope. Don't let fiat propaganda convince you otherwise.

Internet people are so enmeshed in the fiat matrix, they are unaware of vast swaths of humanity wherein people live balanced normal lives. A gaming term that has made its way into our vernacular is NPCs [non-playable characters]. This is a derogatory label. Programmed villagers that wander around doing and saying the same 6 things. This has become a paradox to me: I'm fascinated by the NPCs of this world. I think they are often more interesting than the "heroes". It seems the successful white-collar suburbanite, tech mogul, or influencer are the IRL characters that are as predictable as video game NPCs. They are completely possessed by the algorithms. They all say and do the same things. Conversely, visit a dive bar in the middle of nowhere or a remote village, the people are characters straight out of an adventure novel. I think often about how most of my childhood hero's were people who gave up everything in order to achieve a goal. I don't mean this positively. We think about these types of people as the "main characters" of culture and while their accomplishments are admired, the "everything" of sacrifice often includes marriages, families, friendships, health, and spiritual vibrancy. G.K. Chesterton said, "The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children." It's the little places and people of the world that are enchanting to me. Natural beauty, authentic people, simple living, and plenty of insulation for algorithmic degeneracy. I am in disciplined pursuit of simplicity, serenity, quiet strength, and connection to God. I get more pleasure from a cool fall morning, a cup of coffee, the giggles of my children, and the warmth of my wife than the most lavished morning in a exotic luxury hotel. Maybe this makes me a fool, but I'd rather be a joyous fool than a miserable "success". I'd rather be so sensitive that I'm overwhelmed by life's magic than be so indulgent I grow numb. I've done both. If you feel this way, too, you are not alone, and we are in good company. Don't be gaslit into selling your soul.

GN Nostr! May your family be well, your novels be captivating, and your sleep be sweet!

Absolutely enchanting foggy morning in TN today. Can't get enough. This is the good life!

Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day To seek the pale enchanted gold.